Base seat for bed or chair

ABSTRACT

A base seat, which is adapted for being used with a bed or a chair, includes a fixation base, a rocking mount, a drive device, and a swivel mount. The rocking mount is disposed above the fixation base and reciprocatingly and inclinedly moveable relative to the fixation base. The drive device is disposed between the fixation base and the rocking mount to drive the rocking mount to reciprocatingly and inclinedly move relative to the fixation base. The swivel mount is disposed above the rocking mount and rotatable relative to the rocking mount. By rotating the swivel mount and driving the rocking mount to reciprocatingly and inclinedly move, the bed or chair, which is fixedly mounted to the swivel mount, is swingable in a desired direction.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates generally to a furniture and moreparticularly, to a base seat adapted for being used with a bed or achair.

2. Description of the Related Art

Conventional bedsteads and chairs have generally a stationary structure.With continuous improvement to people's living standards, more and morebeds and chairs having various swing functions are developed andcommercially available to provide more comfortable and relaxing userexperience. However, such kinds of rocking chairs or swingable bedsencountered many technical challenges. For example, as an articlecarrying body weight, a swingable design may be more complicated instructure and weak in structural strength than a stationary structuraldesign, resulting in that not only the problem of low life span but alsothe problem of high operation noise caused by movements of elements needto be resolved. Further, the design of swing mode is also important. Aswing mode that is not ergonomic may cause discomfort, such asdizziness, to user. Furthermore, the conventional rocking chairs orswingable beds usually provide a reciprocating swing motion in a singledirection, inevitably resulting in that user may feel mental fatigue andeven physical fatigue after using the conventional rocking chair orswingable bed for a certain period of time.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention has been accomplished in view of the above-notedcircumstances. It is an objective of the present invention to provide abase seat for being used with a bed or chair, which has an ergonomicswing function to make a user feel more comfortable and relaxing.

Another objective of the present invention is to provide a base seat forbeing used with a bed or a chair, which has a firm and stable structure,a long life span, and a low noise in operation.

Still another objective of the present invention is to provide a baseseat for being used with a bed or a chair, which can adjust its swingingdirection so as to avoid user's metal or physical fatigue and to providediverse and flexible user experience.

To attain the above objectives, the present invention provides a baseseat, which is adapted for being used with a bed or a chair andcomprises a fixation base, a rocking mount, a drive device, and a swivelmount. The rocking mount is disposed above the fixation base andreciprocatingly and inclinedly moveable relative to the fixation base.The drive device is disposed between the fixation base and the rockingmount to drive the rocking mount to reciprocatingly and inclinedly moverelative to the fixation base. The swivel mount is disposed above therocking mount and rotatable relative to the rocking mount. As a result,the base seat for being used with a bed or a chair has an ergonomicswing function, a firm and stable structure, and a long life span, andcan be operated under a low noise. The swinging direction of the baseseat of the present invention can be adjusted during operation so as toavoid user's metal or physical fatigue and to provide diverse andflexible user experience.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will become more fully understood from thedetailed description given herein below and the accompanying drawingswhich are given by way of illustration only, and thus are not limitativeof the present invention, and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a base seat according to a firstembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is another perspective view of the base seat according to thefirst embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is an exploded view of the base seat according to the firstembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is another exploded view of the base seat according to the firstembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a front view of the base seat according to the firstembodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 6 and 7 are front views showing the base seat is operated toswing;

FIG. 8 is a top view of the base seat according to the first embodimentof the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a top view showing the base seat is operated to rotate;

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of a base seat according to a secondembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 11 is a perspective view of a base seat according to a thirdembodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 12 is a front view of the base seat according to the thirdembodiment of the present invention, showing that the base seat isoperated to swing.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIGS. 1-4 show a base seat 1 for providing rocking and swing motion invarious directions for a bed (not shown) or a chair (not shown) fixedlypositioned thereon. The base seat 1 comprises a fixation base 10, arocking mount 20, a drive device 30, a swivel mount 40, and an actuator50.

The fixation base 10 includes a bottom portion 11 and a plurality ofrollers 14. The bottom portion 11 is formed by a rectangular frame forbeing placed on a ground. Four supporting arms 12 extend upwardly fromthe bottom portion 11 and are arranged pair by pair. The rollers 14 arerotatably disposed above the bottom portion 11 and arranged in twoparallel rows each including two lower rollers 15 and one upper roller16. Each upper roller 16 is rotatably disposed between paired twosupporting arms 12 in a way that the upper roller 16 is located higherthan the lower rollers 15 and the upper roller 16 is located between thetwo lower rollers 15 in a same row. In another embodiment, the shape ofthe bottom portion 11 and the number, arrangement and installation ofthe rollers 14 may be modified.

The rocking mount 20 is disposed above the fixation base 10 andreciprocatingly and inclinedly moveable relative to the fixation base10. The rocking mount 20 includes a bearing portion 22, a pivot portion23 and two arc rails 24. The bearing portion 22 is formed by a squareframe, the pivot portion 23 is disposed at about a center of the bearingportion 22, and the arc rails 24 are disposed under two lateral sides ofthe bearing portion 22 and in contact with the rollers 14. The arc rail24 has a shape of a sector of a circle and protrudes downwardly. The arcrail 24 is formed by a round tube such that the transverse cross-sectionof the arc rail 24 shows a circular profile and the arc rail 24 islinearly in contact with the rollers 14. Each arc rail 24 extendsthrough a space between one pared supporting arms 12, such that therocking mount 20 can be stably installed with the fixation base 10without escaping from the fixation base 10. With aforesaid design, therocking mount 20 is reciprocatingly and inclinedly moveable relative tothe fixation base 10, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, i.e. swingable back andforth relative to the fixation base 10 like a pendulum having a pivotpoint suspended above the rocking mount 20 that serves as a bob and arod connected between the pivot point and the rocking mount 20, therebyhaving stable structure and being operated with low noise. Further, foursliding contact members 26 are mounted on the bearing portion 22 of therocking mount 20 for contacting the swivel mount 40. In this embodiment,the sliding contact member 26 is realized as a universal ball member. Inanother embodiment, the structure of the rocking mount 20 may bemodified as long as the rocking mount 20 is capable of reciprocatinglyand inclinedly moving relative to the fixation base 10.

The drive device 30 is disposed between the fixation base 10 and therocking mount 20 and capable of driving the rocking mount 20 toreciprocatingly and inclinedly move relative to the fixation base 10.For the drive device 30, various designs may be used. In thisembodiment, the drive device 30 comprises a power source 32, a crank 36and a link 38. The power source 32 is disposed on the fixation base 10and provided with a power output shaft 33. Specifically, the powersource 32 is composed of a motor 34 and a reduction gearbox 35. Thecrank 36 has an end connected with the power output shaft 33. Two endsof the link 38 are pivotally connected with the crank 36 and the rockingmount 20. As such, when the motor 34 is operated to drive the outputshaft 33 to rotate, the rocking mount 20 is driven by the link 38through the crank 36 to reciprocatingly and inclinedly move relative tothe fixation base 10, as shown in FIGS. 5-7. The drive device 30provided in this embodiment is structurally reliable and can be operatedwith low noise.

The swivel mount 40 is rotatably disposed above the rocking mount 20. Inthis embodiment, the swivel mount 40 is formed by a square frame andprovided at a center thereof with a coupling portion 42 coupled with thepivot portion 23 of the rocking mount 20 in a way that the swivel mount40 is rotatable about the coupling portion 42, which serves as a pivotalaxis of the swivel mount 40, relative to the rocking mount 20. Anextension portion 43 extends laterally from the coupling portion 42 andhas a distal end pivotally connected with an end of the actuator 50. Theactuator 50 has the other end pivotally connected with the bearingportion 22 of the rocking mount 20. In this embodiment, the actuator 50is an electric actuator cylinder having a cylinder body 52 and aslidable rod 54 capable of extending out of and retracting into thecylinder body 52, such that the total length of the actuator 50 ischangeable dynamically and adjustably. The cylinder body 52 is pivotallyconnected with the bearing portion 22 of the rocking mount 20, and theslidable rod 54 is pivotally connected with the extension portion 43. Bymeans of continual retracting and extending motion of the slidable rod54 relative to the cylinder body 52, the total length of the actuator 50is continuously changed. Further, the swivel mount 40 is provided with acircular ring-shaped abutment portion 44 in contact with the slidingcontact members 26, such that the swivel mount 40 can be smoothlyrotated relative to the rocking mount 20. In this way, when the actuator50 extends its length, the swivel mount 40 can be driven to rotaterelative to the rocking mount 20 at an angle of 90 degrees, as shown inFIGS. 8 and 9. In another embodiment, the coupling structures of theswivel mount 40 and the rocking mount 20 may be modified as long as theswivel mount 40 can be rotated relive to the rocking mount 20.Furthermore, the swivel mount 40 may be configured by a circular disc,such that the bottom surface of the circular disc can serve as theabutment portion 44 directly. Moreover, it is only required that the twoends of the actuator 50 are pivotally connected with the rocking mount20 and the swivel mount 40, respectively. In other words, the pivotallyconnecting locations between the actuator 50 and the rocking mount 20and between the actuator 50 and the swivel mount 40 are not limited tothe locations disclosed in this embodiment.

With the above-mentioned structural design, when a bed or a chair isinstalled on the base seat 1 of the present invention, and morespecifically when the bed or the chair is fixedly mounted on the swivelmount 40, the drive device 30 can drive the bed or the chair to performa swing motion in a given direction, such as a back-and-forth directionor a left-and-right direction. Such wing motion is like a hammock orpendulum motion, which is an ergonomic, relaxing and comfortable motion.Besides, because there are only relative rotational or rolling movementsamong the elements of the base seat 1 without the relative displacementsthereamong, the base seat 1 can be operated in a very lower noise.Further, by means of rotating the swivel mount 40 relative to therocking mount 20 through the operation of the actuator 50, the swingingdirection of the bed or the chair can be adjusted from an existingdirection to another desired direction, i.e. from a left-and-rightdirection to a back-and-forth direction or any arbitrary direction forexample. With this direction adjustable function, the mental fatigue orphysical fatigue of a user caused by the swing motion in a single,monotone direction can be avoided, and the user can adjust the swingmode according to personal preference. That is, the base seat 1 of thepresent invention can provide more diverse and flexible user experience,having great market potential.

Based on the technical features of the present invention, variousmodifications to the structure of the base seat 1 of the presentinvention may be made. For example, the installation locations of thesliding contact members 26 and the abutment portion 44 can be exchanged,i.e. the sliding contact members 26 are provided at the bottom of theswivel mount and the abutment portion is provided at the top of therocking mount. Further, the sliding contact member 26 can be realized bya bearing, such as a ring bearing, and one or more sliding contactmembers can be used in the base seat 1, i.e. at least one slidingcontact member is sufficient. The number of the arc rails 24 of therocking mount 20 is also not limited to the number of the previousembodiment. That is, the rocking mount 20 may be equipped with one ormore arc rails 24. For example, FIG. 10 shows a base seat la accordingto a second embodiment of the present invention, which has a structurebasically same as the base seat 1 of the first embodiment, except thatthe rocking mount 20 a has only one arc rail 24 a, and a single row ofrollers 14 a is provided above the bottom portion 11 a of the fixationbase 10 a in a way that the rollers 14 a are in contact with the arcrail 24 a. In this embodiment, the rollers 14 a in a single row includetwo lower rollers 15 a and one upper roller 16 a, and the arc rail 24 ais formed by a rectangular tube having a rectangular transversecross-section, such that the arc rail 24 a is in contact with therollers 14 a in a linear contact manner. In this way, the rocking mount20 a can also be stably and firmly installed with the fixation base 10a.

In another aspect, various modifications to the structures of thefixation base and the rocking mount may be made. FIG. 11 shows a baseseat 1 b according to a third embodiment of the present invention, whichhas a structure basically same as the base seat 1 of the firstembodiment, except that there is no roller disposed to the fixation base10 b and two arc rails 60 is disposed above the bottom portion 11 b, andthere is no arc rail disposed to the rocking mount 20 b and two rows ofrollers 62 are disposed under the bearing portion 22 b and in contactwith the two arc rails 60. The rollers 62 arranged on each row includetwo upper rollers 64 located above one arc rail 60, and a lower roller66 located under the arc rail 60 and between the two upper rollers 64.As such, the drive device 30 b can drive the rocking mount 20 b toreciprocatingly and inclinedly move relative to the fixation base 10 b,as show in FIG. 12.

In another embodiment, the actuator 50 may be omitted. In this case,user may manually adjust the rotational angle of the swivel mount 40relative to the rocking mount 20. In still another embodiment, forsimplifying the structure of the base seat of the present invention, theswivel mount may be even omitted. In this situation, when installing thebed or chair to the rocking mount 20, the user may set them at aspecific installation angle according to the user's preference angle ofswing.

To sum up, the base seat of the present invention, which is adapted forsupporting a bed or a chair thereon, provides swing motion in variousdirections and in fulfillment with ergonomics so as to avoid user'smetal or physical fatigue and to provide diverse and flexible userexperience, making the user feel more relaxing and comfortable. Further,the base seat has a firm and stable structure and a long life span, andcan be operated under a low noise thanks to the design of associatedrail and roller as well as the design of associated sliding contactmember and abutment portion.

The invention being thus described, it will be obvious that the same maybe varied in many ways. Such variations are not to be regarded as adeparture from the spirit and scope of the invention, and all suchmodifications as would be obvious to one skilled in the art are intendedto be included within the scope of the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A base seat for being used with a bed or a chair,the base seat comprising: a fixation base; a rocking mount disposedabove the fixation base in a way that the rocking mount isreciprocatingly and inclinedly moveable relative to the fixation base; adrive device disposed between the fixation base and the rocking mount todrive the rocking mount to reciprocatingly and inclinedly move relativeto the fixation base; and a swivel mount disposed above the rockingmount in a way that the swivel mount is rotatable relative to therocking mount.
 2. The base seat of claim 1, wherein the rocking mountcomprises a pivot portion, and the swivel mount comprises a couplingportion coupled with the pivot portion of the rocking mount.
 3. The baseseat of claim 1, further comprising an actuator having two endspivotally connected with the rocking mount and the swivel mount,respectively.
 4. The base seat of claim 1, wherein the swivel mountcomprises an abutment portion, and the rocking mount is disposed with atleast one sliding contact member in contact with the abutment portion ofthe swivel mount; whereby the swivel mount is smoothly rotatablerelative to the rocking mount.
 5. The base seat of claim 1, wherein therocking mount comprises an abutment portion, and the swivel mount isdisposed with at least one sliding contact member in contact with theabutment portion of the rocking mount; whereby the swivel mount issmoothly rotatable relative to the rocking mount.
 6. The base seat ofclaim 1, wherein the fixation base comprises a bottom portion and aplurality of rollers disposed above the bottom portion; the rockingmount comprises a bearing portion and an arc rail, which is locatedunder the bearing portion and in contact with the rollers.
 7. The baseseat of claim 6, wherein the rollers comprise at least two lowerrollers, which are located under the arc rail, and one upper rollerlocated above the arc rail and between the two lower rollers.
 8. Thebase seat of claim 7, wherein the fixation base comprises two supportingarms upwardly extending from the bottom portion of the fixation base;the upper roller is rotatably disposed between the two supporting arms,and the arc rail of the rocking mount extends through a space betweenthe two supporting arms.
 9. The base seat of claim 1, wherein the drivedevice comprises a power source, a crank and a link; the power source isdisposed to the fixation base and provided with a power output shaft;the crank has an end connected with the power output shaft; the link hastwo ends pivotally connected with the crank and the rocking mount,respectively.
 10. The base seat of claim 1, wherein the fixation basecomprises a bottom portion and an arc rail disposed above the bottomportion; the rocking mount comprises a bearing portion and a pluralityof rollers, which are located under the bearing portion and in contactwith the arc rail.
 11. The base seat of claim 10, wherein the rollerscomprise at least two upper rollers, which are located above the arcrail, and one lower roller located under the arc rail and between thetwo upper rollers.
 12. The base seat of claim 1, wherein the swivelmount is omitted.